U.S. patent number 4,846,105 [Application Number 07/054,829] was granted by the patent office on 1989-07-11 for disposable litter tray.
Invention is credited to Thomas F. Caldwell.
United States Patent |
4,846,105 |
Caldwell |
July 11, 1989 |
Disposable litter tray
Abstract
Cat litter is packaged and sold in a rectangular carton made of
cardboard and having two opposing end flaps and two opposing side
flaps. When opened, the flaps form upright side walls and enable
the carton to be used as a litter tray. A reusable pastic collar is
adapted to slip over the flaps to hold the flaps open and to
rigidify the carton during use.
Inventors: |
Caldwell; Thomas F. (Rockford,
IL) |
Family
ID: |
21993795 |
Appl.
No.: |
07/054,829 |
Filed: |
May 27, 1987 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
119/168;
229/930 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A01K
1/0125 (20130101); Y10S 229/93 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
A01K
1/01 (20060101); A01K 067/00 () |
Field of
Search: |
;119/1
;229/23BT,101,103,123 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Peshock; Robert
Assistant Examiner: Price; R. Thomas
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Leydig, Voit & Mayer, Ltd.
Claims
I claim:
1. A cat litter tray comprising, in combination, a generally
rectangular carton having a longitudinal dimension which is greater
than the transverse dimension of the carton, said carton being made
from a single piece of paperboard and having a flat bottom wall,
two opposing end walls and two longer and opposing side walls
upstanding from said bottom wall, said end walls and said side
walls being of the same height and being secured together at the
corners of said carton, end flaps hinged to the upper margins of
said end walls to fold along transversely extending score lines
between upright open positions and horizontal closed positions,
said end flaps having upper edges located at a predetermined
elevation when said end flaps are in said upright positions, side
flaps hinged to the upper margins of said side walls to fold along
longitudinally extending score lines between upright open positions
and horizontal closed positions, said side flaps having
longitudinally extending edges which are located closely adjacent
one another when said side flaps are in said closed positions, each
side flap comprising a first section hinged to the associated side
wall and having an upper margin which, when said side flap is in
said open position, is located at approximately the same elevation
as the upper edges of said end flaps, each side flap having a
second section hinged to the upper margin of said first section
along a longitudinally extending score line which is located so as
to permit the second section to fold downwardly alongside said
first section when said side flap is in said position, a generally
rectangular collar fitting releasably over said flaps when the
carton is open, said collar having approximately the same
longitudinal and transverse dimensions as said carton, said collar
comprising a relatively rigid plastic member having spaced inboard
and outboard upright walls connected integrally to one another at
their upper margins and defining an inverted U-shaped channel for
receiving the upper margins of said end flaps, the upper margins of
the first sections of said side flaps and the adjacent margins of
the second sections of said side flaps, said collar being effective
to hold said end flaps and the first sections of said side flaps in
said open positions and being effective to keep the second sections
of said side flaps folded downwardly alongside the first sections
of said side flaps.
2. A cat litter tray comprising, in combination, a carton made of
paperboard and having a bottom wall of rectangular shape, four
vertical walls upstanding from said bottom wall, flaps hinged to
said vertical walls to fold between horizontal closed positions and
upright open positions, two of said flaps being disposed in
opposing relation to one another and each comprising a first
section hinged to the upper margin of the associated vertical wall
and further comprising a second section hinged to the first section
to fold downwardly along the outerside of the first section, said
flaps having upper margins which are all located at the same
elevation when said flaps are in said upright positions, and a
collar fitting releasbly over said flaps when the carton is open,
said collar having the same general rectangular shape as the bottom
wall of said carton and comprising a relatively rigid and plastic
member having spaced inboard and outboard upright walls connected
together at their upper margins and defining a channel for
receiving the upper margins of said flaps, said collar being
effective to hold said flaps in said upright positions.
3. A cat litter tray as defined in claim 2 further including ribs
formed integrally with and spaced along the inboard walls of said
member and projecting into said channel into pressing engagement
with said flaps to help retain said collar on said flaps.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention is concerned generally with cat litter and with
litter trays or boxes for use therewith.
Cat litter is most conventionally sold in bags of various sizes and
is used with a litter box made of relatively rigid plastic. Dumping
the used litter and cleaning the litter box for reuse is a messy
and unpleasant chore. Even if a disposable plastic liner is used
with the litter box, some time is required to gather up the old
liner, to put a new liner in the box and to fill the box with new
litter. Moreover, if the cat claws through the liner, litter may
pour from the liner when the liner is picked up from the box and
thus cleaning of the box may be required.
In some cases, litter is sold in a carton which itself forms a
disposable litter box. Such cartons, however, usually require a
removable top and do not form a box of any significant depth.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The general aim of the present invention is to provide a new and
improved one-piece carton in which litter is originally packaged,
shipped and sold and which, upon being opened, may itself serve as
a litter box adapted for quick and easy reclosure and disposal.
A more detailed object of the invention is to provide a novel
carton having flaps adapted to be opened and held in upright
positions so as to form walls of a height approximating the height
of the walls of a conventional litter box.
An important object of the invention is to provide a reusable
collar adapted to hold the walls of the carton in upright
positions, adapted to rigidify the carton during use and adapted to
help retain litter in the carton when the cat scratches in the
litter.
These and other objects and advantages of the invention will become
more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in
conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of one embodiment of a new and
improved cat litter carton incorporating the unique features of the
present invention and schematically shows the first step of opening
the carton.
FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the first step involved in
converting the carton for use as a litter box.
FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view showing the plastic collar
being assembled with the carton.
FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the collar fully assembled
with the carton.
FIG. 5 is an enlarged side elevational view of the partially
converted carton as seen substantially along the line 5--5 of FIG.
2.
FIG. 6 is an enlarged end elevational view of the partially
converted carton as seen substantially along the line 6--6 of FIG.
2.
FIG. 7 is an enlarged fragmentary cross-section taken substantially
along the line 7--7 of FIG. 5.
FIG. 8 is an enlarged fragmentary cross-section taken substantially
along the line 8--8 of FIG. 3.
FIG. 9 is an enlarged fragmentary cross-section taken substantially
along the line 9--9 of FIG. 4.
FIG. 10 is a bottom plan view of the collar as seen substantially
along the line 10--10 of FIG. 3.
FIG. 11 is a perspective view schematically showing disposal of the
carton.
FIG. 12 is a perspective view of another embodiment of a carton
incorporating the features of the invention and shows the carton
partially converted for use as a litter box.
FIG. 13 is a perspective view similar to FIG. 12 but shows the
carton fully converted for use as a litter box.
FIG. 14 is a side elevational view of the partially converted
carton shown in FIG. 12.
FIG. 15 is an end elevational view of the partially converted
carton shown in FIG. 12.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
The present invention contemplates the provision of a unique
one-piece carton 20 which initially serves as the original shipping
and sales package for a quantity of cat litter 21. After being
purchased, the carton may be opened and converted for use as a
litter tray or box. When the litter becomes dirty, the carton
simply is reclosed and is thrown away.
More specifically, the carton 20 is made from a single piece of
conventional corrugated paperboard formed by a corrugated medium 22
(FIG. 7) sandwiched between inner and outer paper liners 23 and 24.
To prevent moisture from seeping through the carton, the inner
liner 23 may be coated with a very thin plastic-like coating.
The carton 20 comprises a flat rectangular bottom wall 25 (FIG. 8)
having a longitudinal dimension or length of about 18 inches and
having a transverse dimension or width of about 12 inches. A pair
of opposing vertical end walls 26 and a pair of longer vertical
side walls 27 are formed integrally with and extend upwardly from
the bottom wall. Tabs 28 (FIG. 7) are formed integrally with the
end walls 26 and are glued to the inner sides of the side walls 27
adjacent the ends thereof so as to join the end walls and the side
walls together at the four corners of the carton. The end walls and
the side walls have a height of about 11/2 inches.
End flaps 30 are hinged to the upper margins of the end walls 26
and are adapted to fold about transversely extending score lines 31
between generally horizontal closed positions and upright open
positions. The score lines 31 are formed by die crushing the
corrugated medium 22 and the inner liner 23 of the paperboard
material and thus the memory of the material tends to cause the end
flaps 30 to swing upwardly toward their open positions. The
dimension A (FIG. 6) or height of each end flap is about 31/2
inches.
In a like manner, side flaps 32 are hinged to the upper margins of
the side walls 27 along longitudinally extending score lines 33
which are die crushed into the corrugated medium 22 and the inner
liner 23 of the paperboard so that the side flaps tend to be biased
upwardly toward upright open positions. The overall dimension B
(FIG. 5) of each side flap 32 is just slightly less than 6 inches
and thus the longitudinally extending edges 34 of the two side
flaps nearly abut one another when the side flaps are folded about
the score lines 33 to closed horizontally extending positions shown
in FIG. 1.
The carton 20 is prefilled with litter 21 and serves as the
original shipping and sales package for the litter. While the flaps
30 and 32 are in open positions, the carton is filled with an
appropriate quantity (e.g., five lbs.) of litter at the packing
plant. The end flaps are then are closed and the side flaps 32 are
closed downwardly over the end flaps. An elongated strip of tape 35
(FIG. 1) then is adhesively applied along the adjacent
longitudinally extending edge portions of the side flaps 32 so as
to seal the joint between the edges 34 of the side flaps and to
hold all four of the flaps in their closed positions.
In keeping with the invention, the carton 20 itself is adapted to
be converted for use as a litter box or tray. For this purpose,
each of the side flaps 32 of the carton is defined by two flap
sections and 37 and 38. The first section 37 of each side flap 32
is hinged to the respective side wall 27 at the score line 33 and
has a dimension C (FIG. 5) of 31/2 inches, that dimension being the
same as the dimension A of the end flaps 30. The second section 38
of each side flap 32 is hinged to the first section 37 by a deep,
longitudinally extending score line 40 located at the junction of
the first and second sections. Each score line 40 is a cut score
formed by cutting through the corrugated medium 22 and the inner.,
liner 23 of the paperboard material. When each side flap 32 is
open, the second flap section 38 tends to fold downwardly along the
outer side of the first flap section 37.
To use the carton 20 as a litter box, the sealing tape 35 is slit
longitudinally with a knife along the narrow gap between adjacent
edges 34 of the side flaps 32 as shown in FIG. 1. Thereafter all of
the flaps 30 and 32 are opened and the second flap sections 38 are
folded downwardly along the outer sides of the first flap sections
37 (see FIGS. 2 and 3). With the flaps in this position, the upper
margins of the flap sections 37 as defined by the score lines 40
are at the same elevation as the upper edges 45 of the end flaps
30. The four flaps are held in open and substantially vertical
positions and, when so held, coact with the end walls 26 and the
side walls 27 of the carton to cause the overall litter box to have
walls with a height of about 5 inches.
Various means may be used to hold the flaps 30 and 32 in their open
and upright positions. For example, one or more elastic bands may
be placed around the four flaps to draw the end portions of one
pair of opposing flaps into abutting engagement with the end edges
of the other two flaps. Alternatively, suitable clips may be used
to secure adjacent flaps to one another at the corners of the
carton 20 after the flaps have been opened. It is preferred,
however, to hold the flaps together with a unique collar 50 of the
type shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 and FIGS. 8 to 10.
The collar 50 preferably is made of a rigid plastic and has
approximately the same rectangular dimensions as the bottom wall 25
of the carton 20. The collar includes inner and outer side walls 51
and 52 (FIGS. 8 to 10) whose upper margins are integrally joined by
a gradually rounded bridge 53. Thus, the collar defines a channel
54 of inverted U-shaped cross-section for receiving the flaps 30
and 32.
In use, the collar 50 is slipped over the flaps 30 and 32 after the
latter have been opened and after the second flap sections 38 have
been,,folded downwardly alongside the outer sides of the first flap
sections 37. The collar not only holds the flaps open but also
rigidifies the carton 20 and eliminates the danger of the cat
folding the flaps or otherwise disturbing the position of the flaps
as the cat enters and leaves the box. To help prevent litter from
flying out of the box when the cat scratches, the side walls 51 and
52 slant outwardly as they progress downwardly and thereby cause
the flaps to converge as the flaps progress upwardly. The
converging flaps tend to form baffles preventing litter from flying
upwardly out of the carton. To help hold the collar securely on the
carton, ribs 55 (FIGS. 8 to 10) are formed integrally with and are
spaced along the inner side wall 51 of the collar. The ribs project
into the channel 54 and press against the inner sides of the flaps
30 and 32 in order to provide a frictional fit between the collar
and the flaps.
When the litter 21 becomes dirty, the collar 50 is removed, the
flaps 30 and 32 are reclosed and the entire carton 20 is simply
thrown away (see FIG. 11). The flaps may be held closed with a
piece of adhesive tape or by one or more elastic bands.
In order to accommodate the outward slant of the side walls 51 and
52 of the collar 50, the end edges 56 (FIG. 5) at each end of each
side flap 32 are shaped to define a V whose apex is located at the
score line 40. As a result, the side flaps may be swung inwardly
between the end flaps 30 in order to enable all of the flaps to
converge in accordance with the slant of the side walls 51 and
52.
When the carton 20 is closed, the second flap sections 38 of the
side flaps 32 tend to spring upwardly about the score lines 40 and
tend to swing upwardly from the end flaps 30. To prevent such
upward swinging and to help hold the second flap sections 38 flat
against the flaps 30, the score lines 40 are not continuous but
instead are interrupted by three longitudinally spaced webs 57
(FIG. 3). As a result of the webs, the tendency of the second flap
sections 38 to bow toward open positions is reduced but such
sections still may be easily folded downwardly along the outer
sides of the first flap sections 37.
From the foregoing, it will be apparent that the present invention
brings to the art a new and improved one-piece carton 20 which not
only serves as the original package for the litter 21 but which
also serves as a disposable litter box or tray approximating the
size and shape of conventional litter boxes. Virtually no mess is
in in using and disposing of the carton. Because the first flap
sections 37 are folded downwardly along the outer sides of the
second flap sections 38, the top sides of the first flap sections
37 are clean when the flaps are reclosed.
Another embodiment of a litter tray 20' incorporating the features
of the invention is shown in FIGS. 12 to 15 in which parts
corresponding to those of the first embodiment are indicated by the
same but primed reference numerals. The tray 20' is particularly
characterized by its relatively small size and low cost making the
tray useful for travel purposes or for use with cats in cages at
cat shows.
Basically, the tray 20' is similar to the tray 20 in that the tray
20' includes a rectangular bottom wall 25', end walls 26', side
walls 27', end flaps 30' foldable about score lines 31' and side
flaps 32' foldable about score lines 33'. Each side flap 32'
includes a first flap section 37' foldable about the score line 33'
and further includes a second flap section 38' foldable about a cut
score line 40' at the upper margin of the first flap section 37'.
The closed carton 20' is about 10 inches wide, 12 inches long and
11/2 inches deep and thus is significantly smaller than the carton
20.
Moreover, each cut score line 40' of each flap 32' is formed on the
upper or outer surface of the flap. As a result, each second flap
section 38' folds downwardly along the inner side of the first flap
section 37' rather than along the outer side thereof (see FIGS. 12
and 13). Because the second flap sections 38' are located inside of
the carton 20 when the carton is converted to a tray, the outer
side of the carton may be printed or decorated for purposes of
presenting a decorative appearance at a cat, show and the unprinted
lower or inner sides of the first flap sections 37' will not be
visible.
As shown most clearly in FIGS. 13 to 15, the ends of the flaps 30'
and 32' are formed with various notches and tabs which interfit
with one another when the flaps are located in the fully converted
position of FIG. 13. An elastic band 60 is placed around the flaps
and urges the tabs against the bottoms of the notches so as to hold
the flaps in upright positions during use. After the litter has
been used, the flaps are retained in closed positions by the
elastic band and then the carton 20'is simply thrown away .
* * * * *